Beautiful Minds

Musings on the many paths to greatness.

by Scott Barry Kaufman

Conversations on Creativity with Daniel Tammet

A prodigious savant joins the wider world

Published on January 2, 2010 by Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D. in Beautiful Minds

Although their unusual abilities compel considerable attention, there are fewer than 100 known prodigious savants living at the present time. Daniel Tammet (http://www.optimnem.co.uk) is one of them. Over 30 years, the London-born mathematical and language whiz has transformed from an awkward, reclusive boy into a confident adult. His quiet, private life of strict routines gave way in 2006, when his memoir Born on a Blue Day became a best-seller, necessitating travel, self-promotion, and talk show appearances. His latest book, Embracing the Wide Sky, is a scientific exploration of his extraordinary abilities (reciting pi to 22,514 places, learning to speak Icelandic in a week) and a tour of autism.

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On August 18th and August 19th, 2009, Daniel was gracious enough to let me peer into his world. I was aware of the great number of interviews with Daniel that already exist, but as a psychologist, I still had many lingering questions, which Daniel was very patient in answering for me. These two days, I left my prior expectations, biases, and ways of thinking at the door and transported myself into Daniel's mind. As a result, I was fortunate enough to be able to share his unique way of seeing the world.

Daniel's insights changed my own way of thinking, not only with regards to Autism and Asperger's syndrome, but also in terms of the full extent to which personal change is possible, the nature and nurture of individual differences, intelligence, creativity, genius, fiction, art, poetry, math, love, relationships, the mind, brain, the future of humanity, and the appreciation of many different kinds of minds. A portion of my interview can be found in the November/December issue of Psychology Today (Numbers Guy: An autistic savant joins the wider world).

Here is my complete interview with Daniel, laid out in six parts, along with my own reflections on the interview. I hope you find Daniel's reflections, insights, and ongoing journey just as fascinating and thought-provoking as I have.

Part I, Embracing the Wide Sky

Part II, How a Prodigious Savant's Mind Works

Part III, Nature and Nurture

Part IV, IQ and Human Intelligence

Part V, Creativity, Mind, and the Brain

Part VI, Personal Transformation

Postscript, My Candid Reflections

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Tags: art poetry, autism asperger, autistic savant, biases, confident adult, daniel tammet, fiction art, individual differences, lingering questions, love relationships, nature and nurture, personal change, private life, psychology today, reciting pi, scientific exploration, whiz, wide sky

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Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., is a cognitive psychologist at NYU, Co-founder of The Creativity Post, and Chief Science Officer of The Future Project.

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